chcp

Changes the active console code page. If used without parameters, chcp displays the number of the active console code page.

Syntax

chcp [<nnn>]

Parameters

Parameter Description
<nnn> Specifies the code page.
/? Displays help at the command prompt.

The following table lists each supported code page and its country/region or language:

Code page Country/region or language
437 United States
850 Multilingual (Latin I)
852 Slavic (Latin II)
855 Cyrillic (Russian)
857 Turkish
860 Portuguese
861 Icelandic
863 Canadian-French
865 Nordic
866 Russian
869 Modern Greek
936 Chinese

Remarks

  • Only the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) code page that is installed with Windows appears correctly in a Command Prompt window that uses Raster fonts. Other code pages appear correctly in full-screen mode or in Command Prompt windows that use TrueType fonts.

  • You don't need to prepare code pages (as in MS-DOS).

  • Programs that you start after you assign a new code page use the new code page. However, programs (except Cmd.exe) that you started before assigning the new code page will continue to use the original code page.

Examples

To view the active code page setting, type:

chcp

A message similar to the following appears: Active code page: 437

To change the active code page to 850 (Multilingual), type:

chcp 850

If the specified code page is invalid, the following error message appears: Invalid code page